Off to a flyer, but soon back to reality

THE OLD dog for the hard road. Yours truly was magnanimous early yesterday in victory, at least if magnanimous is an acceptable variant of completely insufferable.

Having backed Reveillez in the first, the Jewson Novices' Handicap Chase, and then tried Fondmort in the Ryanair Chase, my two winners meant the snow which was falling outside cost me nary a thought.

Neither did my selections. Advised by my inside man in Cheltenham that the card reeked like a stable the morning after two horses had shared a curry, I decided to take a plunge anyway in the bookies, that is, not the stable. Always beware of the mixed metaphor.